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Cold Snap

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Over the past week, Eastern Europe has been gripped by a cold snap that has killed some 250 people. In Ukraine, 101 people have died and over 1,000 have been hospitalized for frostbite. In Russia, rapid snowfall and severe temperatures have killed at least 64 people, which could deter opposition protestors from braving the bitter cold this weekend -- despite the encouragement of some scantily clad female activists -- to make their voice heard. Countries across Europe are now bracing for the cold front, as Italy, England, and France begin to feel the chill after an unusually mild winter. Here are some of the most dramatic winter scenes so far.

Above, a girl looks through the ice-covered window of a kindergarten in Minsk, Belarus, on Feb. 2. Temperatures there dropped on Feb. 3 to -27 degrees Celsius.

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A social worker pours steaming tea for an elderly man at one of newly opened shelters in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Jan. 30. Forty-three people had died of hypothermia in Ukraine as of Wednesday, the emergency services ministry said.

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A woman covers up in Kiev as temperatures fell to -20 degrees Celsius on Feb. 1. Most of those who died in Ukraine were homeless people who froze to death on the streets, although seven were found dead in their homes; hundred more sought medical help for frostbite and hypothermia.

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A thermometer shows the -10 degrees Celsius temperature in the aptly named city of Winterberg, Germany, on Feb. 1. The Siberian cold front was called "Cooper," after carmaker BMW, which owns the Mini Cooper brand, paid to have the name attached to the cold pressure front. The decision was made before the front turned deadly; the company later issued an apology for the public relations gaffe.

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A woman is seen through an icy tram window in central Sofia, Bulgaria, on Feb. 1. The cold snap has seen temperatures drop to their lowest levels in a century in some parts of the country, weather officials and media said on Wednesday.

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Riesling grapes are covered with hoar frost at a vineyard in Kaatschen, Germany, on Jan. 31. The dessert wine known as "ice wine" is produced from grapes that have been frozen and need to be at at least -7 degrees Celsius before being harvested. Current temperatures are favorable for this year's ice wine production.